Guest Review: Now I Rise by Kiersten White

Release Date: June 27th, 2017
Read: October 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: The Conqueror's Saga, #2
Format: ARC, 471 pages
Source: Publisher in exchange for an honest review

Description from GoodReads:

   She has no allies. No throne. All she has is what she’s always had: herself.

   After failing to secure the Wallachian throne, Lada Dracul is out to punish anyone who dares to cross her blood-strewn path. Filled with a white-hot rage, she storms the countryside with her men, accompanied by her childhood friend Bogdan, terrorizing the land. But brute force isn’t getting Lada what she wants. And thinking of Mehmed brings little comfort to her thorny heart. There’s no time to wonder whether he still thinks about her, even loves her. She left him before he could leave her.

   What Lada needs is her younger brother Radu’s subtlety and skill. But Mehmed has sent him to Constantinople—and it’s no diplomatic mission. Mehmed wants control of the city, and Radu has earned an unwanted place as a double-crossing spy behind enemy lines. Radu longs for his sister’s fierce confidence—but for the first time in his life, he rejects her unexpected plea for help. Torn between loyalties to faith, to the Ottomans, and to Mehmed, he knows he owes Lada nothing. If she dies, he could never forgive himself—but if he fails in Constantinople, will Mehmed ever forgive him?

   As nations fall around them, the Dracul siblings must decide: what will they sacrifice to fulfill their destinies? Empires will topple, thrones will be won…and souls will be lost.

Review:

   No one will be more ruthless
   Like the previous book, this one serves up a lot of drama, deep questions, and make-or-break decisions. It leaves you constantly wondering and complaining about choices the characters have made. And that makes it so good. It's not often that a book leaves me questioning and hoping for a character's safety and joy.

  And I do love each and every character, good or bad. They are all well-developed, and always show a little bit of humanity, no matter how evil their actions are. Lada is by far my favourite. She is ruthless but doesn't require forgiveness. Her storyline in this book is, in my opinion, more interesting.

  The whole book reads like a young adult, and less complicated Game of Thrones. I could not wait until the next chapter from either Lada or Radu's perspective, and I cannot wait until the next book.

Rating:

Book Review: And I Darken by Kiersten White

Release Date: June 28th, 2016
Read: June 9th-25th, 2016
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Series: The Conquerors Saga, #1
Format:ARC, 484 pages
Source: Gift from Brittany's Book Rambles

Description from GoodReads:

   No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

   Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.


   But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point

Review:

   Let her be strong. Let her be sly. Let her be ugly.
   I had missed out of getting And I Darken at BookCon 2016, for the Be First event. Fortunately for me, a good friend of mine, Brittany from Brittany's Book Rambles had an extra copy that she was willing to send me. Where I had wanted to read And I Darken because of its hype, I had also read White's previously released books, and enjoyed those quite a bit. With this one taking a bit of a different route than where the previous books had gone, I didn't enjoy And I Darken as much as I did the others.
   I felt like the book was missing it's hook that connected me to the story, I never felt like I was actually there witnessing the story take place. I felt more like I was a stranger watching from afar. The story felt so slow to a point where I was literally dreading having to finish it, it took me a month to almost read the whole thing.
   I also felt that the story having taken place over such a long period of time made things worse, in fact I think it's what made the story feel so long in the first place. I couldn't connect with the characters because their ages were constantly changing, until they weren't, and I wasn't able to recall what age they ended with.
   And I Darken, was a very well researched novel with its historical accurateness , but it was not for me. Depending on the circumstances, I do not see myself picking up it's sequel in the future.

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

"When you have something someone else wants, there is always an element of power." 

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Romance, Kingdoms, Ottoman Empire